The ACS Student Chapter at the University of Richmond School of Law, under the leadership of Faculty Advisor Dean Timothy Coggins, has hosted numerous programs this spring, developing the discourse around progressive legal issues. The chapter started the semester by commemorating the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade with a conversation featuring Professor Meredith Harbach. The Chapter then joined the Equality Alliance and Professor John Pagan for a discussion on the tenth anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas and co-sponsored a symposium on educational equality, marking the fortieth anniversary of San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. The symposium, co-sponsored by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School and Richmond’s Journal of Law and Public Interest, featured Thomas Saenz, President of MALDEF, William Koski, Director of the Youth and Education Law Project at Stanford Law School, and Professor Kimberly Robinson of Richmond Law. The Richmond Student Chapter also hosted, David Gans, Director of Civil and Human Rights and the Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center, for a talk on the future of the Voting Rights Act and Shelby Co. v. Holder and Ami Shah, an attorney from the Advancement Project, to discuss felony disenfranchisement and the unique problem that it poses in Virginia. Finally, the most recent program at Richmond featured another Advancement Project attorney, Leah Kang, who presented on the school to prison pipeline.

The Richmond Chapter looks forward to two final programs to close the semester. The first will be a co-sponsored discussion with the Equality Alliance on same-sex marriage and the two cases heard by the Supreme Court in March, and the last event will be a legislative update with Delegate Jennifer McClellan of the Virginia House of Delegates.